


Pas de Deux

by tyrantsandcreampuffs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, M/M, inspired by the ballet AU prompt on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5796166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyrantsandcreampuffs/pseuds/tyrantsandcreampuffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey is the premier danseuse at Jedi Opera House and is in need of a Romeo to her Juliet after Poe injures himself. Kylo Ren, the premiere danseur at the First Order Ballet Theatre, wants nothing to do with the Jedi after all the pains he took to not be in the shadow of his mother, a prima ballerina assoluta. </p><p>In the end, they learn that what they want and what they need are two entirely different things, and the world isn't necessarily going to end if they danced with one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pas de Deux

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elenlith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenlith/gifts).



> inspired by @elenlith's ballet AU prompt on tumblr:
> 
> "Rey has just become prima ballerina at Jedi Opera House, under the guidance of world-famous choreographer Luke Skywalker. 
> 
> Lacking a male principal dancer that can measure up to her, Luke and his sister Leia Organa, retired prima ballerina and now ballet teacher, reach out to First Order Ballet Theatre, hoping for a collaboration to bring “Romeo and Juliet” to the stage.
> 
> Kylo Ren, principal dancer at First Order Ballet, wants nothing to do with Jedi Opera House. He changed his name and distanced himself from his mother and uncle to gain artistic freedom. He has no intention of coming back, not even for a season.
> 
> Luke and Leia ask his trainer Phasma to convince him to at least come and watch Rey perform. They just know that the moment Kylo sees her dance, he’ll want to be her partner in the ballet…
> 
> …they’re not wrong. Now, if only Kylo would just drop his hostile attitude towards everyone - including Rey, who irks him with her blind worship of his mother and uncle - well, maybe they could seriously start rehearsing."
> 
> This is my second prompt fill. I don't write AUs as often, but the photosets tempt me to keep writing, ugh! I took ballet years ago, but that is all a forgotten dream now. I hope I don't insult anyone with my work, ha ha.

 

 

* * *

 

Poe Dameron was supposed to be their hope. He was the premier danseur of the Jedi Opera House and was practically the face of the world of modern ballet. He had a cult following and was everywhere – on the covers of magazines, advertisement billboards, commercials; you name it, his face was probably on it.

But then he had to get himself into a car accident when he let his boyfriend drive – which everyone knew Finn was _terrible_ at – and shattered his femur, possibly ending his career permanently.

“You’re such an idiot,” Rey berated him. She was on a chair beside his hospital bed, surrounded by about a hundred flowers and gifts from his adoring and concerned fans from all over the world. She had to pinch her nose when she entered because it had smelled sickeningly sweet. “God, the Princess is going to _kill_ you.”

“Leia loves me too much to kill me,” he said with his signature cheeky grin, but then his bruised face didn’t allow for him to lift his cheekbones as much, so instead he looked like he was just wincing in pain. “And she couldn’t do anything worse to me if she wanted. Where is she, by the way? I thought she would be visiting with you.”

“Off mitigating the repercussions of your stupid decision to let Finn _drive_. It’s a miracle you two are alive at all.”

“How’s Finn? They haven’t let me get up and go to him since I arrived here.”

Of course Poe would be more concerned about the state of his partner than himself. She couldn’t help but give a small smile when she thought of how much the two loved one another. “He’s fine; doing much better than you. He didn’t break anything, lucky for him.”

“That’s good,” Poe answered with a breath of relief. “I’d been anticipating all this time because the nurses won’t tell me anything.”

“Because you should be focusing on your own recovery. You know, he’s going to feel guilty for the rest of his life knowing that it was his fault you broke your leg, prematurely ending your career,” she pointed out with a frown. “And the company hasn’t been doing well since Luke decided to leave. This play was supposed to be our saving grace, and we don’t really have anyone else good enough to fill your shoes.”

The silence between them stretched out indefinitely, with Rey thinking whether they could actually put up a show without Poe or not.

“I’m sure she’ll find a way,” Poe said eventually. “The Princess always does.”

* * *

Rey remembered the time before ballet took over her life. She had been in the foster system, flitting between different families and other children, when her foster parents at the time had seen the advertisement for a free ballet workshop for children held by the Jedi Opera House and signed up all the children under their care. Leia Organa wasn’t yet retired at the time, and it had been a life-changing experience for the young Rey to witness the acclaimed prima ballerina dancing for her and about twenty other kids in the large and vacuous theater.

Her classmates at the time weren’t as interested as her, and when Rey displayed her tenacity and eagerness to learn the art form, Leia and her brother Luke Skywalker, a world-famous choreographer, graciously offered to take her from the hands of her foster family and give her a one-of-a-kind scholarship. There was no other answer than _yes_ , and since then, Rey hadn’t looked back.

Aside from giving her a proper support system, they had sent her to school and gave her special lessons after her regular classes. It wasn’t explicitly stated, but everyone knew she was being groomed to be the next premier danseuse of their company. But as much as Rey loved to dream about being a future star, the possibility of her becoming a prima ballerina didn’t compare to just knowing that she was accepted by the Skywalker family.

With the exception of Ben Solo.

* * *

“His name is Kylo Ren now,” Leia scolded her after she went on a long tirade about how the First Order Ballet Theatre had taken one of her closest friends, Jessika Pava, and how Kylo Ren was the one behind the transfer. “You have to respect that. I wouldn’t have done so well with my own career if I hadn’t changed my last name to Organa, because I would then have to be constantly compared with Luke’s innate talent. Ben just doesn’t want to live under our shadows, and that’s completely acceptable in our trade.”

It had been years since Leia last saw her son in person, so Rey was always careful to not bring him up in their conversations. Rey knew that her foster mother followed her biological child’s own rise to fame through pictures and various interviews and it was just a whole sad and messy affair in their family. She _hated_ Ben Solo for abandoning his parents. She _hated_ him even more when he had the gall to call her a mere _charity case_ to her face when they had met.

“Well, _Ben_ knew what he was doing when he made the offer to Jess!”

“Even if _Ren_ was the one to offer her a contract, it was Jess’s choice to go with the First Order in the end, wasn’t it?”

Rey could only nod begrudgingly.

* * *

Just after the end of their company meeting where Leia announced that their next rehearsal schedule would be used for auditions to fill Poe’s slot for Romeo, Rey walked over to the lost and found box right outside the tech booth. She had left her favorite gray shrug _somewhere_ and the first place to look was always the lost and found box.

She was rummaging through the miscellaneous items when she heard the door to the tech booth swing open and out came Finn, wearing Poe’s brown leather jacket and with his phone pressed against his ear.

“You’ll do it because you owe me one, _Phasma_ ,” he said, voice low. “The auditions are next Thursday. I’ll be expecting to see _him_ there.”

When he dropped the call, Rey stood up to confront him with her hands crossed over her chest and her brow raised upward in an accusatory look.

“Who was that you were on the phone with just now?”

“That’s none of your concern,” Finn was quick to answer, though it was obvious whenever he was hiding something because his eyes would flit from her to another thing in the background. “What are you doing all the way back here?”

“Looking for my gray shrug,” she answered, but wasn’t going to let him derail the topic. “Was that _Phasma_ you were talking to? As in, Phasma from _First Order_?”

“Again, that’s none of your concern, Rey.”

“It is when it involves the enemy!”

“Alright, first of all, the _First Order_ isn’t our enemy,” Finn started, hardly suppressing his bemusement over Rey’s call of the other ballet company. “We don’t compete for audiences with them because they operate in a completely different city. Do you _get that_ , Rey?”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I _know_ that.”

“You’re still upset over them taking Jess, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am! She was like, an older sister to me and they took her!”

“You should be angry with Jess about leaving, not at the First Order for offering her a spot in their company,” Finn said with a light chuckle at the sight of the fuming Rey. “You should really learn to let go of some grudges. If Poe was here, he would probably tell you the same thing. You’ll get pimples over your pretty little face if you don’t.”

With a few pats to her cheek, Finn walked away, leaving her confused as to _how_ he had managed to make her forget that she was supposed to be doing an inquisition of his conversation. Shaking her head, she went back to the box – and kicked it when she couldn’t find her shrug in it.

* * *

She had only been sixteen when she formally joined the Jedi, and she had been the youngest member in the history of one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. She was proud of herself, of working hard to become someone she wanted to be. They had called her many things, with the term _prodigious_ coming up the most often. Other articles went on to predict that she was also going to be the youngest prima ballerina they’ve had as well.

Leia – whom everyone called _Princess_ after her being declared an _assoluta_ – reminded her not to let it get to her head, that she wasn’t the best _just yet_. Han had been present in their celebratory dinner out, taking time off his busy schedule filming the next blockbuster hit to congratulate his wife’s apprentice. They were eating at a restaurant called Maz Kanata’s Castle when the couple’s son _Ben_ walked in with one of his friends named Hux, who was also part of the First Order with him.

“Ben!” Han had called, and Leia grumbled at the attention he caused. While he relished in the spotlight on the stage, this wasn’t the attention Ben wanted for himself, so walked up to their table and nodded in acknowledgement, Hux following closely behind.

“Hello, Mother,” he said to Leia stiffly before turning to Han. “Father.”

“How are you doing, Ben?” Leia asked, her wrinkling lips quirking up to a genuine smile. “And what brings you back to the city?”

“The First Order’s been commissioned to perform for an arriving emissary. Or something like that,” he grumbled in response; he was obviously displeased with having to reply to small talk out of courtesy. “And I’m fine.”

Then, his eyes met hers, and his brows furrowed at the sight of her.

“So you’re the girl I’ve been hearing so much about,” he said with a frown. “They say you’re going to be following in the footsteps of the _great_ Leia Organa. What a shame. Though, I suppose you must be pleased, being the _charity case_ that you are.”

“Ben—” Han began to defend her, but Rey wasn’t going to let someone else stand up for her.

“I _am_ going to be the best ballerina this city’s ever known,” she said, ire lacing her tone. “And I’m her _apprentice_ , not some charity case she picked up on the street!”

Despite her outburst, Ben Solo – Kylo Ren – remained impassive.

“We’ll see.”

He had left after that, and she could hear Hux complaining about finding another place to eat. Leia looked sad again and Han was doing his best to comfort his wife. It was her first time meeting their son in person, but she wouldn’t forget the impression he made, and how much she wanted to show him how _wrong_ he was about her.

She _hated_ him.

* * *

“Enter on the fourth measure, Rey. Three, two, one – _go_!”

Rey went on the stage via _couru_ before jumping a _jeté_ into the arms of her partner. His hands were placed just above her hips to assist her as she pirouetted six times before switching to another form. They continued with the movements, their gestures syncing as the choreography called for. At the last beat, he was kneeling on the floor supporting her weight as she leaned forward with an arabesque, her leg stretching up behind her.

He pushed her back and Rey stood upright, sending a curt nod in his direction before he went back to his place in the line of those auditioning. She was the only one left on-stage and she looked to Leia at the front seats, waiting for instructions on the next dancer. Her eyes didn’t stay trained on Leia for long, because Rey found herself looking up to the doors where she saw a dark figure standing by the theater entrance. Leia had caught on to Rey’s distraction and followed the line of her gaze, eventually settling on the stranger.

“Ben?” Leia called out, and everyone in the theater hushed. “Ben, is that you?”

Ben Solo walked down the ramp leading to the stage and as he began to be step away from the dim incandescent light from the back and into the harsher white light at the front, Rey was starting to see the dark beauty that was attributed to his being _Kylo Ren_. He was in a fit black shirt and pants, proper dance attire – and Rey was connecting the dots in her head when he declared his intent to audition for the role of Romeo.

Immediately there were murmurs amongst the rest of the company.

“Is that even allowed?” Rey heard the closest pair of dancers talk to each other. “Doesn’t he have a contract with the First Order that disallows what he’s trying to do?”

“Phasma’s the one who told me to come here,” he said, clarifying. “Snoke has been thinking of a collaboration between our two companies, and when Phasma came up to him with the suggestion of me auditioning, well, he practically ordered me to go.”

Leia nodded her understanding and stood to address the rest of the company. “Is anyone going to contest?”

As Rey expected, no one raised their hand to question it. Why would they? Kylo Ren was the premiere danseur of the First Order. He had gotten his spot at the same time Rey had, and she felt very smug about her reaching the same level of accomplishment while being younger than him. He was also still their director’s son, and none of them really wanted to deal with anymore Skywalker family drama after Luke mysteriously walked out on the Jedi a year ago.

“Alright, then. I’m sure you know the steps, Ben? Sorry, Kylo Ren,” Leia corrected herself.

“The _pas de deux_ , yes,” he answered with a nod. Even if he didn’t, he’d watched enough auditions to know what his part was supposed to dance. Ben took his spot at the stage right next to Rey. And as he looked down, it went to her mind that he’d been there, watching her from the shadows, and she felt more conscious about her movements than before – not that she still had anything to prove to him, because she _didn’t_. She smoothened the wrinkles on the tulle of her gray camisole empire dress, pressing on the fabric to keep herself from showing her nervousness at the thought of dancing with  _him_.

Rey didn’t say anything, only took the necessary steps back for her to enter. She waited for the counter to go down – _three, two, one_ – and she was running to him, repeating the _grand jeté_ and he caught her, his hands settling firmly over her waist, helping to keep her upright as she spun in place. It was the same movements, yet it felt different with him compared to the other dancers who tried for the part. His skill level showed, how he was the primo of his troop. His lifts were effortless, every stretch smooth as he matched her movements. There was precision to their dance, to the staccato of their steps. She wasn’t witnessing it herself, but she knew it had been _perfect_.

On the last beat, they were in the final pose with him kneeling and her arabesque well-defined. He pushed her back and she instinctively jumped away from him. She’d never seen him perform before because of her own prejudice, but she had been amazed by how well they had danced together. She hated him, still, but she couldn’t deny his talent.

“I think we have our Romeo,” Leia announced with a pleased smile. Rey knew the matron was ecstatic that her son was performing under her direction for the first time. She turned to look at his reaction, but he had already turned and was walking away from the stage.

* * *

They easily fell into an established routine as the rehearsal schedules for the production filled their schedules. In the mornings, they either trained or went for a run around the city. Their afternoons were always spent in the theater, practicing the choreography until they had the movements down to a T. Then, they would collapse at night from the tiring and demanding rehearsals; Rey at her room at Luke’s empty house – which apparently she was named heir to in his will, but he wasn’t _dead_ , so it wasn’t _hers_ – and Ben at his own rented apartment at the center of the city.

It wasn’t the only habit they fell into. They argued _constantly_. On-stage, at awkward dinners Leia forced them to attend, when they bumped into each other during their morning runs – _everywhere_. The company was so used to their common feuds that they easily walked past the two dancers without worrying about them hurting each other.

On one of their free days, Rey decided to take the time to visit Poe. Finn accompanied her to Poe’s apartment, where he was in bed-rest and had a caretaker on-call. There, she had only complained about how Kylo Ren was a bully with unresolved parental issues. She would go on and praise him, how well they danced together even though she _hated_ him and his guts and then she declared how she would never forgive him for his misgivings and transgressions against her and his family.

When she left for home and Finn stayed behind, Poe laughed freely.

“Is she aware that she doesn’t really hate him?”

“Nope.”

* * *

“I really hate you,” she whispered to him angrily during a lift while they were performing, right after he had _purposely_ stepped on her.

“I know,” he answered back, not bothering to stop himself from smiling.

* * *

To the delight of all involved parties, the collaboration had been successful, each show selling out and filling the entire theater with spectators to appreciate their production. The company worked tirelessly, doing the show almost every other night for a month – until they reached their very last performance and it was closing night.

The other cast members were taking their bows on-stage and Ben and Rey were waiting for their cue – when he leaned down and kissed her fully on the lips. It wasn’t like a stage kiss that was light and skillfully covered with fingers pressed over the mouth; no, he was kissing her like it was _real_ , like he was meaning to devastate her.

He pulled away on their cue, and he entwined their fingers, keeping her close as they walked on the stage, raising their joined hands over their heads before taking their bow. She had to let go when she held on to the bouquet that was handed to her, but then he latched on to her waist instead, and he was _ruining_ her.

“Do you hate me still, Rey?” he asked, a low whisper that caused her to flush as his hot breath tickled the outer shell of her ear. He pulled back to see the red of her face that wasn’t from the exhaustion of dancing all night and let out a genuine laugh.

_Did she hate him?_

She did. She really did.


End file.
